This powerful little guy was the keynote speaker at Dallas ISD’s back to school convocation, yesterday, August 25th. I’ve tried to find out more about him, but I can’t, which is in many ways a good thing because he’s just a kid.

Make no mistake – Dalton Sherman is no ordinary 5th grader. He is extraordinary in every way. He could have just as easily been addressing a major political party convention.

His message, his delivery, his passion, his enthusiasm cannot be described in words. So incredibly powerful!

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69 Comments

Susan Fevrier.
said :

This young man is AMAZING. He could give a lesson in public speaking to George Bush.

Kola
said :

I hope after the commenting has dried up Dalton will be given a DVD or CD copy of his speech and the comments either by his school or by parents. I hope a few copies will be left in the library as reference material for several student generations.
I can tell you this event has been sent tothe UK and Nigeria,and I expect it will keep on spreading. If I was a boy I would love to go to a school that is so focussed on bringing out the best in students, and is so supportive of the efforts of teachers. I can see a number of students of this school reaching to the stars.
Well done all.

Kola

Wayne Carter
said :

This is confirmation that our future generation is not doomed. This is wonderful and brings chills to me just listening. Education is power.

DeAndra Knighten
said :

With so many African-American boys ending up as murder or prison statistics, it was refreshing to see this young African-American male take such an interest in his and other classmates education. Now the job becomes how do we as educators spread this message nation wide

pamela Abramson
said :

This is AWESOME!!!

Every Educator in the system who touches children need to hear this! Teachers have such a STRONG INFLUENCE they make or break a child!

Open youre eye this young man has it all figured out! Thanks for sharing thi. This needs to be shown to all teacher in services repeatedly!

[DISCLAIMER: just to let everyone know, I respect Gary immensely and consider him a personal friend. However, like in all friendships, there are disagreements sometimes. This is one of those times.]

Gary,

Thanks for posting this, and, thank you very much, I *WILL* continue to love Dalton and his message, and let me explain why.

First, let me say that I think I get where you are coming from, essentially that Dalton’s speech is the height of hypocrisy in light of the district’s decision to lay off 1,100 employees. I don’t agree with your characterization of it being a ‘publicity stunt’ but that’s just the beginning of where our views diverge.

Let’s be clear: neither of us saw Dalton’s performance (and could gauge the reaction of the audience), neither of us work for Dallas ISD, neither of us are impacted by the district’s decision to cut staff. Thanks to the wonders of the blogosphere, we can sit here in our comfortable chairs, from a safe distance, and argue about the merits (or lack thereof) of a young man’s speech in front of 17,000 teachers (I think that’s the right number). What a country… :/

Anyway, have you ever worked for a large, troubled organization or school district? I know you’ve CONSULTED (and done outstanding work) for several, but I mean have you WORKED for, as in have you been EMPLOYED BY one? Have you ever witnessed, firsthand, what it’s like to be a cog in the wheel of an organization struggling to maintain forward momentum despite difficult operating conditions, low morale, and a bleak forecast? I have, and I’m going to assume you have (thanks to your bio), perhaps as a member of the organization’s leadership/management team, if not, as an employee in the trenches (I’ve been both). Accordingly, let me ask you some questions…

How should an organization, struggling with day-to-day operations, not to mention an unfavorable view of the immediate future, best manage its stakeholder communication strategy? What messages are appropriate, and what messages are not? If you’re a member of the leadership team, do you focus on the positive? The negative? Shoot for the middle, aiming for some sort of balance? It seems to me that considering Dalton’s speech in isolation does little to help us understand the overall picture of what is going on in the district communication-wise … but then again, does that really matter?

This is the essence of the disconnect between us here. Dalton’s message (the words he spoke, I know they were not his own) touched the core of why I became a teacher, because I believe in the children that come into my classroom every day. I separate the issue from the individual, the performance from the person. I could care less that Dalton is from Dallas ISD; he could be from any district in any state in the country and his message would still resonate with me. Why? Because I don’t view Dalton as a product of his district (even though he is), I don’t look at him and think about the efficacy of his district administration team, I don’t hear his words and wonder if all 17,000 people in the audience feel the way I do about them. His words spoke to *ME*, and, perhaps selfishly, that’s what matters to *ME*.

In fairness, I think I titled my post incorrectly (as you well know, I’m prone to overenthusiasm at times). Perhaps I should have titled it, “Dalton Sherman speaks … to me. Does he speak to you?” or something like that. Asserting, dictating, demanding that “Every. Educator. Must. Watch. This. NOW!” does seem a bit over the top, even for me, but I wrote it in the heat of the moment immediately after seeing the video. Mea culpa.

Getting back on track, does the fact that layoffs were imminent when Dalton spoke diminsh the value of his performance? Surely, the 1,100 employees in the audience that will lose their jobs might think so, as they are likely bitter, angry, frustrated and upset (my thoughts go out to them; the prospect of being unemployed in this economy is frightening). But WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER 15,900 PEOPLE WHO REMAIN? Have you considered that Dalton’s message is perhaps what these teachers needed to hear most? See my comment above about stakeholder communications strategy. The organization must maintain forward momentum. I think Dalton’s speech helps in that regard, but again, I don’t work for Dallas ISD. They are the only ones qualified to say it does or not.

The biggest difference between us, Gary, is one of perspective. Watching the video, I see a young fifth grader giving a powerful performance and delivering an inspirational message. I don’t see his district, its leadership, its operating budget, its test scores, its award-winning teachers (or its low-performing ones), its curriculum, or the people who coached Dalton. I see the performance and I hear the message, and perhaps it’s shallow of me, but it resonates. We can agree to disagree, but in my experience, the way forward in a troubled organization is often illuminated by people who can somehow find the positive in world of negativity. That’s how I roll. How about you?

-kj-

[PLEASE NOTE: this is an emotional issue for many people participating in this conversation. PERSONAL ATTACKS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED and comments containing language *I* consider inflammatory will be DELETED. Feel free to disagree with anything anyone says, please – do so professionally. THANK YOU!]

Actually, Kevin, I don’t think the layoffs were even a possibility when Dalton was performing — the discrepancy between income and payout wasn’t discovered until a couple of weeks later, as I understand it.

Had it been known, seriously, I’ll wager Hinojosa would have had the good sense to cancel the meeting to save a couple of jobs.

I heard the speech firsthand, I posted about it at my blog, and as someone with less than a year’s seniority in Dallas ISD, I’m probably closer to the top of the layoff list than anyone can be comfortable with. The damage to morale from this entire thing is much deeper than I could have imagined — and I’ve been involved in layoffs in bigger corporations before (only once as a direct victim).

Any good teacher, deep down, does it for the kids. God knows the pay would be better somewhere else, as well as every working condition. Dalton’s message still rings true — a “belief” in our students and our colleagues, trust that everyone works for the same high goals, is essential.

Of course, that necessary trust, between teachers and the downtown administrators, is gone now, and in the next few days as the layoff notices go out (supposed to be done by October 17), the trust between teachers and campus administrators will be strained, at best, and maybe shattered as well.

Dallas isn’t the only district in the nation that is underfunded — it’s one of about 15,000 by my count. Dallas isn’t the only one in desperate trouble — Milwaukee is considering a form of organizational suicide.

John Donne was right, you know. No school district, no teacher, is an island. Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for all of us, individually as well as collectively.

Ed, thanks for commenting, again, and for your personal perspective. I enjoyed reading your account of the performance on your blog, here. It makes me understand the scene a little better. Good stuff. -kj-

I kind of come down in the middle on this one. Gary, I understand your cynicism. I don’t think we ever want to use our students as pawns to manipulate public opinion. On the other hand, I don’t think it is as horrible as all that. Motivating teachers, especially during cuts, is a challenging bit. I’d say he did a pretty good job.

As for what he got out of the deal, I’d say that public speaking is a pretty key skill. Yes, helping students find their voice is critical, but this young man has the confidence and capability to move a crowd once he does find his voice. Let’s not be so cynical as to believe that the people in this district are so busy patting themselves on the back for his speech that they have forgotten that there is more work to be done.

Perhaps this discussion should be a work in progress. We should check back in a few months and see if this experience has led this young man to want to learn other important skills as well.

Dave, thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. I love your focus and positive/realist outlook. Note – Ed Darrel, a commenter above, is at Dallas ISD (or he was … he’s non-tenured and low in seniority and could be let go soon if he’s not been already). Input from people on the ground there would be really helpful, the rest of us are just observing from a distance…

A Involved Parent
said :

I listened to Dalton’s speech on YouTube. I was very impressed! Due to the way it was verbally presented, it did not occur to me that he did not write the speech.As a mother of a gifted child, who also has verbally presented such speeches (not to such large crowds) in school and church functions, I know how stressful these times can be. And for him to present the speech as well as he did orally, relaxed and well enunciated, it doesn’t matter that he didn’t write it. Just getting him to open his mouth and pronounce his words where they could be understood, were not in ebonics, is saying a lot! As has been stated in previous comments, what major speakers don’t either have their entire (or major portions) speeches written for them and then coached on how to deliver them??? I also wanted to comment on the comments from Dr. Gary Stager, PhD. comparing this young man to Rev. Al Sharpton as making reference to pentecostal minister, was that a “racial comment”? Had he been a 5th grade white lad, and delivered the same message with the same passion, who would he have been compared to then?

I also agree with Lori Crowley, I would like to see the video (if it was recorded) or even the written copy of his speech about Dr. honoring Maya Angelou flood the internet also. Maybe Dr. Stagers needs to see/read it also, so that he won’t be so quick to spew out negative comments regarding an obvious bright, precocious and obviously unbashful young man.

One last comment, most of the credit that was going out, was given to his teacher(s). But I believe I did read one comment that gave credit to the mother. Let me state again as a parent of a gifted child, it doesn’t matter how gifted they are, if its not recognized and ENCOURAGED by BOTH teacher AND PARENT , that child will become stagnant and so will his GOD-GIVEN abilitlies and talents.

So in closing, kudos and God bless his mother(and father if he is in the picture) for seeing the potential in him and encouraging, allowing and teaching him to allow them to come forth!

First- Reading or reciting a speech written by someone else, no matter how well executed, is not an example of student voice, it is puppetry. Student voice requires the authenticity of the message in the voice of the speaker.

Second – Don’t you have any questions over why the Dallas ISD felt compelled to put on this show and then use its public relations department to make it a web sensation?

Third – Stating that there is a tradition of child preachers is not racism. It is a statement of fact. Dalton used an evangelical technique in his presentation.

Fourth – If you don’t think kids can do extraordinary things, like Dalton’s presentation, then I feel sorry for you. Perhaps you have forgotten because you work in a district like Dallas ISD where teachers are prohibited from thinking, getting to know students or teaching creatively because their job has been reduced to test prep.

Fifth – What exactly did Dalton say that teachers found revelatory? It seems to me that he shared self-evident platitudes known to any teacher who attended the first lecture of Education 101 class. I get it – teachers should care about their students. That is some profound stuff!

Sixth – Does it not bother you at all that a month after Dalton Sherman’s teacher rah rah performance made him a star of YouTube, the Dallas ISD layed off between 500 and 1,100 of those teachers he was chiding?

These virtually contemporaneous events can be interpreted one of two ways:

1) The leadership of the Dallas ISD knew that they needed to fire hundreds of teachers affecting tens of thousands of students and exploited Dalton as a smokescreen. How cynical!

2) The leadership of the Dallas ISD is so incompetent that they focused their energy on prepping Dalton for his performance while ignoring the financial mess that caused them to fire teachers a month into the school year.

1. Rote memorization of lines in a play might qualify as not the kid’s views, if the kid were playing a role he doesn’t agree with.

That’s not the case here. Dalton wants to be a performer, a public speaker, and memorizing lines is the way he uses to get there now. His teachers have encouraged him for at least three years, assisted him, coached him. Having met the kid, I think he believes what is in the speech.

But were that not so, it’s a great public relations ploy, based more in honesty than not. The previous year the district had brought in a great inspirational speaker at a great price. While it charged up the teachers who saw it (I was not among them then), many were troubled by having the stuff come from a guy unaffiliated with the district.

So, this year, the district saved a few thousand dollars, showcased a great talent (did you know that Dallas’s G&T Magnet High School is ranked 2nd best in the nation — behind Dallas’s Engineering Magnet (or is it the other way around?); did you know that Dallas’s Booker T. Washington High grads have more than a dozen Grammy awards between them?).

The astounding thing is that the views come from the administration, from the people who had a reputation for abusing teachers.

The whole package carries a message: Dallas needs its teachers, and reveres them, while challenging them to better performance.

2. I have real problems with the Dallas PR department. They failed to get this thing up on YouTube for more than 48 hours after the event, and then didn’t promote it much. The Dallas Morning News got a copy of the video, and that promotion was the one that took off. It’s interesting that the biggest critic of Dallas ISD promoted the video the most. It’s also telling about the message, and way it was received.

3. As a sermon, it’s wonderful theology.

4. See above about the achievements of our graduates; if you want to see other kids Dalton’s age or slightly older, you can find the choirs of Greiner MS singing folk songs and children’s songs in several academic compilations. Come on out to Molina HS. Despite the test prep problems, come listen to our Mariachi Band, or our really hot Garage Band; come see our Dia de la Muerte decorations. Listen to our debaters and moot court competitors.

The kids are not the problem, nor is their achievement.

But still, a fifth grade kid owning an audience of 20,000 like Dalton did — that’s an astounding accomplishment. I saw Midori with the Dallas Symphony last week — she was five years older than Dalton when she first stepped out in front of 2,000 people. Don’t dismiss any part of Dalton’s achievement.

5. Nothing really revelatory. A good home run, or a no-hitter, isn’t revelatory either. But it’s remarkable, and commendable.

6. It bothered everyone that we lost 375 teachers and 700 others. Education is in trouble in America. In a big district like Dallas, mistakes can have massive effects. Dalton’s school was hit, too. To the best of anyone’s knowledge, no one affiliated with Dalton’s speech, including the superintendent, knew of the problem until many days after that speech.

So what?

If you have any information that Superintendent Michael Hinojosa knew the layoffs were coming, let us know. We’ll put his effigy on a pike as we run him out of town. No evidence to support that claim.

The prepping of Dalton required two or three people, and momentary attention from Superintendent Michael Hinojosa. There is no connection between the financial screw up and the speech Dalton gave.

The problem was mismatched and non-communicating accounting packages, implemented in different parts of the district in an attempt to clean up problems from the past. The packages were implemented quickly, a clean break from the past, under the watchful eye of the Texas Education Agency (especially after Dallas was forced to absorb another financially ailing district that was fraught with misfeasance), and the FBI and Justice Department. And, let’s not forget the Big 6 accounting firm brought in under Sarbanes-Oxley standards to assure everything was okay.

How could all those watchdogs miss the problem? Great question. The answer does not involve cynical work on the part of the people who helped Dalton Sherman, and especially, it’s not the fault of Dalton Sherman.

Everything is caveat emptor — but let’s not try to stampede people to be wary of things that are not there, or not harmful. Cynicism doesn’t become educators.

Patsy
said :

Aloha,

Rather Dalton was coached, taught, encouraged, memorized line by line till he remembered his speech by heart, it still takes self determination, dicipline, and interest to endure. Great Job!!!!!

A potential candidate for a future President of the United States. Pursue your dreams!!! All the success.

I finally got to watch this after the link from one of my high school teachers sat in my email for months. Incredible. Besides thanking Dalton and his teachers, I feel I also need to thank Ed Darrell for his insightful comments on this website. I’m a high school principal, and if you’d ever like a job here in State College, PA, I’d take you in a second! And much thanks to Kevin for sharing all of this with all of us.

Jesse Howard
said :

Most of these comments originated as far back as August of last year so I’m a little perplexed as to why its just now gaining any real publicity. I am a music teacher but I happen to be mobilized right now. When I saw Dalton Sherman, I could not imagine ANYONE HAVING ANYTHING NEGATIVE TO SAY. (let me calm down; i’m getting upset already)
Ya Know…. its interesting to note, of the 60 something comments so far, perhaps the dumbest, most insensitive, “iggernent” statements and viewpoints came from someone, who who has achieved and benefitted most from the educational system. This seems to be a trend for the past recent years. It is interesting to note that the current state of our economy was screwed up by some of the “brightest” minds, the most well most educated “geniuses” we have at our disposal; CEOs, Presidents, Governors, Senators, financial experts, leaders and even doctors with PH. D’s. People who have reached these achievements many times can’t grasp some of the most elementary concepts of anything; I.E. Believing in others, compassion, help; BUT THEY KNOW HOW TO HATE AND FIND THE NEGATIVE PERSPECTIVE ALL IN THE NAME OF BEING INTELLIGENT. It’s like they only have the ability to make simple things hard. SUPPOSE LITTLE Dalton Sherman SEES THIS BLOG ONE DAY AND READS “dr. stager’s asinine COMMENTS; this is all that’s needed to cause Dalton not to “BELIEVE” in himself; even a little bit. But I bet dr. stager did’nt even THINK about that; well damn, I did,… and I’m just a teacher. Sometimes, Kevin S, you have to deal with stupity in a harsh manner and you can’t sympathize with it; even if stupid people are your friend.
As a Music Teacher, I can give my chorus students all the right vocal parts, the harmony and the lyrics as they are transcribed in the music. But check this out; “I BELIEVE” only the students have the ability, if I only inspire them and allow them to be creative, to DELIVER and transform, all the tangible musicality into a sound that can make you tear up or get goose bumps. I CAN’T TEACH THEM THAT; it’s aready inside of them. Now who taught me that? …..my students.

LaFayette Barnes
said :

Pretty good. I feel its correct . Every child have someting great to offer you just have to try to extract it out.

LaFayette Barnes
said :

I thought it was great. Every child have something to offer but we as teachers have to try to extract it.